Do the long, dark winter months have an affect on your well being? Do you find yourself feeling depleted and in search of opportunities to hibernate? Be aware of what your body is asking for - it usually has a good reason, and often it is wise to listen to it.

At times the best way to serve ourselves is to talk a lesson from the bears and hibernate. Try it for a day. Forgive yourself not being "productive". Interesting the next time you call on yourself to be productive, you may be a whole lot sharper after having given your body a rest.

And while you're raising your awareness about your body's winter needs, here are some fun reminders of why our yoga practice can be special and unique in the winter.

10 Things to Love about Yoga in the Winter

1. Not having to wake up quite so early to do your practice while the sun is rising.
2. More time to attend workshops on the weekends when it's not competing with yard work (understandably, gardening IS yoga for many of us...but not so much for me)
3. How well our twisting postures prepare us for shoveling.
4. A warm toasty studio or meditation spot on an icy cold day.
5. That yoga allows us to practice impermanence. That all sensations (in this case, cold ones) pass (unless you live on the North Pole).
6. Snow cancellations give us "extra" time that we can use to practice, read, meditate.
7. A meditation walking through a snow storm and listening to the sounds (a kind of buffered quiet I've never heard elsewhere)
8. Bundling up in blankets for savasana.
9. Heating up your body all on your own through a vigorous practice.
10. More opportunities to stay indoors and develop a home practice.